Random Question: Her Side
by Trekkie6
Summary: Lois tries to deal with the knowledge of who Clark Kent really is. Her 3rd person POV, Part 2 of 2. Written for the Clois 100 Challenge at 12Days of Clois at livejournal


**Author's Note: If you enjoy this, please review so that others who read stories based on the numbers of reviews may enjoy it as well. Thanks. ****Also this is part 2 of 2. It's not necessary to read 'His Side' first but I would recommend it. **

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_Have you ever been lied to? By the one person in the world you thought you could trust the most? And when that lie is exposed and the truth revealed, how are you supposed to go on with your life when that big fat lie is your partner? When he's the secret father of your only son? When deep inside, as much as you try to deny it, you're still in love with him?_

Lois reread the torn out page that had been last night's journal entry. She had meant it as a way to vent her frustrations as there was no one else she could talk to. She sure as hll was NOT going to talk to _him_; she could barely stand to look at him let alone hear his voice. And she definitely couldn't have talked to Richard. Lois had needed _someone_ and 18 hours before, that someone had been the page.

Now she stood on the roof of the Daily Planet, returning her beloved lighter to the pocket of her long coat as she watched the bright flame envelope the paper. She had to burn it, couldn't take the risk of shredding it or tearing it into pieces. Someone could always find it, tape it back together. She was probably being paranoid by carrying it around in her purse but she didn't care. The last thing she needed was for Richard to find it; she'd already given him one reason too many during the last few weeks to suspect _something_ was going on…

This month was not going the way she thought it would. That Pulitzer was supposed to be her pride and joy; now it was a thorn in her backside. Imagine the surprise of _him_ being Jason's father. And now Clark Kent?!

She was angry at herself for not figuring it out on her own and pissed at him for not telling her once he knew about Jason. But she was even more pissed because he hadn't told her at all.

_Had he even intended to?_

Three days ago she had been busy jotting down some notes and didn't notice which bathroom door she had walked through. Looking back on it, she should have noticed the absence of the tampon machine on the wall, as she usually bumped into it when writing her way into the restroom. As it was, she had stopped to use the sink as a desk to scribble a final thought on the last lines of the page.

She had turned and entered the stall behind her, leaving the notepad behind. It wasn't until the door was closed that she realized it wasn't the color it should have been. Instead of the pale yellow she was accustomed to, the door was a deep brown.

Obviously she was in the wrong place. And it hadn't been until she'd heard a toilet being used a few stalls away that Lois realized she wasn't alone.

_Well, a toilet's a toilet…_

She was at the sink washing her hands when he walked out, wiping the lenses of his glasses on a sheet of bathroom paper…

It boiled her blood to remember the reflection of that wide eyed, dumbstruck look he had the nerve to be wearing. Lois had definitely needed a cigarette that day. She needed one now; the stress of anger had long begun to be too much for her brain to handle, but she had proudly thrown away her last pack two weeks ago.

_I sure picked a heck of time to quit smoking. Now I have to go down there work with him_._ Thanks, Perry; thanks a lot!_

She was not ready to deal with Clark, not yet. It was enough that she had to listen to him talk from across the newsroom – how she couldn't stand that fake, high pitched voice of his anymore! - but to actually have to sit and be civil? She was mad. And she wanted to stay mad.

But at the same time, in an odd way, she missed him.

_Them? _

It was so confusing, which was part of the reason she was so pissed off at him. She was damned if she did and damned if she didn't.

In the five minutes it took for her to get back to her desk, Lois had weighed her options. At the most, she would do this for Jason's sake; Clark was his father and they needed to get along to do right by him. And when she thought about it, should she really be that upset? She'd never given Clark the chance to explain himself, just yelled and screamed before shoving him into a stall door and rushing out of the room.

Maybe she had known once and couldn't remember, just like she couldn't remember other things…And besides, it wasn't like he'd kept this from her for twenty years. He could have been planning to tell her that very day, or the day after…

They needed to talk.

Lois took the deepest breath her lungs would allow and pushed her way through the afternoon madness that was the newsroom. Heading toward her desk, she spotted Clark at his, leaning over looking for something. She rushed past while he was occupied and plopped down into her seat, trying to collect her thoughts and hoping her eyes weren't stained red.

She willed her heart to quit racing; who knew if Clark could hear it or not. She didn't want to give him the satisfaction of knowing she was nervous, that she was willing to try to work things out with him. _Let him suffer for once. _Reaching to hang her coat on the rack, Lois noticed Gil making his way toward her, a slice of half eaten lemon cake in hand.

She broke off a chunk and tossed it in her mouth, stopping a partially offended Gil in his tracks. "Hey, would you be a dear and tell Clark to get over here?" Her tone was nowhere near as polite as the words. Gil was used to it; it's how she was after 3PM.

While Clark took his sweet time dragging that noisy chair over to her desk, Lois put on her glasses and interrupted her Daily Planet screen saver before searching for her notes on that article they had written together days before. Once he got there, she realized she had no idea what to say to him, to this man who was her friend, and at one time, her lover. Clark Kent was Jason's father. The world had not seen stranger days.

She began to wonder just how they were going to pull this off. Not even _wanting_ to think about how Richard would react to this, Lois couldn't help but think of the future. Would Clark be able to be there for Jason? Knowing you're a father was one thing but actually _being_ one was another. She sighed. Would he be able to take Jason out in public without people wondering if she had been sleeping with three different men five years ago?

Then there were things she realized she didn't really know about Clark. _Has he even found an apartment yet? Is he _really_ from Kansas?_ The latter question tapped on her angry bone. _He'd better be; if that man has lied to me about anything else…Did he grow up there? How did he get a social security number? Has any one realized that he doesn't use his health insurance? What does he do in his spare time? Does he _have_ any spare time? What about Jason? _Then she thought of another question. She'd never seen him do it, and her curiosity got the best of her.

"Do you drive?"

"Hu-what?"

What was he, deaf now? She refused to look at him and gripped her new wireless mouse, choosing to double click on a file instead of chucking it at his head like she did the last one. "I know _Super _you doesn't need to, and Clark doesn't have a car, but _can_ you drive?" It was a valid question.

From her peripheral, she could see his mouth hanging open. _How much of a dork is he really? I thought the bumbly idiot thing was an act!_ Her irritation was quickly turning into aggravation. "Do you have a license?" It was a long moment before he answered, and even then it only made her irritation worse when he asked her why she wanted to know.

Why couldn't he just answer the question?! How hard was it to hold a conversation? Questions got asked, questions got answered. _People do it all the time! It's our job for goodness sake!! _Lois bit her tongue to keep from blurting out an expletive.

"Would you'd rather I snapped at you?"

"No." There was that high pitched voice again. He cleared his throat and when he answered, it was closer to Superman's rich timber. "That was really random is all."

When she stopped to think about it, it really was. He may have been a liar but he wasn't a mind reader. Regardless of all the turmoil he'd put her through, she couldn't help but feel slightly guilty.

And for the life of her, she couldn't figure out why.

_Why does he always do this to me? Either he makes me feel like the luckiest woman in the world or he makes me lose all control of my senses. I don't even know what I'm doing anymore. I'm so tired of this…_

Her eyes stung as she turned to fully face him, but refused to let him see how much he affected her. "Clark," she paused to look at him, seeing the man she didn't know and both the men she did reflected back at her: in his eyes, his deeper voice, his out of style clothing, the way his large hands were spread across his knees because he had no idea what to do with them…

"This isn't easy for me to deal with. Personally, I enjoy a good grudge, but it's not doing anything for me right now. I just want to get my work done and go home." She focused her attention back to the reason they were at her desk in the first place: work.

But she couldn't help adding, "Besides, I have the rest of my life to hold it against you." She decided to leave him wondering if she was joking or not.

"If that's what you want, Lois."

It was. The day had been long and all the stress was wearing her thin. It was already close enough to quitting time, but Perry wanted that dmn article. And sooner rather than later.

She politely handed Clark the papers from the folder and went over Perry's instructions again. The two of them would be spending a lot of time on this new assignment as Lois was being ordered to play pretty little flower to Superman's bee once again. But this time was different. She knew who he really was. The days of waiting on the Daily Planet roof were over. She grinned at the thought.

_At least now you'll be easier to get a hold of._

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